Best wordpress wiki plugin? MediaWiki, WP-Wiki vs. BP Group Wiki comparisons?

  • krystofo

    (@krystofo)


    13 years, 2 months ago

    Hello all! Thanks to help in this forum, I have successfully installed my first multi-site (MU/MS) WordPress at Verhampshire.com. All I need is an integrated wiki. But a wiki is one thing that I don’t want to have to migrate later. That is serious and the options are seriously confusing. Surfing the wiki tags at WordPress.org as well as WordPress.org forum discussions and Googling, I have come up with three prominent options. However the differences never seem clearly explained…

    Please note:
    (a) I am skeptical about using a Wiki that might be good but not remain supported. So if anyone suggests a Wiki with fewer than 1,000 downloads, I am open minded but you’ll have to convince me!
    (b) I am not very concerned about bells-and-whistles. Mainly looking for a wiki that is efficient, reliable and with long-term support.

    1. MediaWiki-Wordpress Integration. Pros: Can’t seem to go far wrong with the Wiki used by Wikipedia and WordPress.org. As certain as anything to remain supported. I have done a small contribution to the WordPress Codex and it worked smoothly for me. Cons: even the founder of Wikipedia says MediaWiki is outdated and over-complicated. Probably MediaWiki is topheavy for most needs and I believe it’s good to travel light.

    2. WP-Wiki. Well established, lots of downloads. On the surface, seems like “the” wiki for WordPress. But somehow only rates 3 stars, and somehow seems rarely mentioned at Webhostingtalk.com discussions for WordPress Wiki’s. Especially: if WP-Wiki were any good, why did WordPress.org choose MediaWiki…?

    3. Buddypress Group Wiki. At Webhostingtalk.com, WordPress wiki discussions seem to assume that Buddypress is needed, i.e., Buddypress Wiki seems the best-known wiki plug-in. Why is this? Most of all… even if I do not need Buddypress, is it perhaps worthwhile to install Buddypress just so that I can use this wiki? Also… Will Buddypress + Groups Wiki perhaps be less topheavy than MediaWiki?

    4. Wistful mention. (Not yet available.) VaultWiki is a Vbulletin forum plug-in that is so successful it is branching out to make wiki versions for other CMS’s. Watch for Vaultwiki to be available for WordPress… someday…

    (Incidental Notes. I intend later to establish other WordPress group sites, which will definately use BuddyPress and BBpress. “Best forum plugin” for MU sites seems a more simple question than the best wiki. This seems definately BBpress, maintained by WordPress.org itself! Except that one-blog sites might be happier with Simple Forum. And of course, for a super-serious forum emphasis, all the major forum specialists have WordPress bridges, including the up-and-comer Xenforo. Thank you anyone for any other tips or suggestions.)

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • dreamgrowers

    (@dreamgrowers)

    13 years, 1 month ago

    I’d love to know what you ended up choosing….

    Thread Starter krystofo

    (@krystofo)

    13 years, 1 month ago

    Hi Dreamgrowers! Glad you are interested…

    I have definitely decided to use option 1 above: MediaWiki-Wordpress Integration. Reasons:

    a) The Buddypress-Wiki is being discontinued. First the lone programmer had problems upgrading for WordPress 3.0. Now he says someone else is working on a Buddypress Wiki which looks promising so he is giving up on his… Bottom line… we just cannot depend on these add-ons supported by one or two programmers. Not for something like a wiki that gives us a lot of data that cannot easily be migrated.

    b) Yes a lot of people complain about the complexity of MediaWiki… but… sure the many options are intimidating but it is really not difficult at all if you just do text editing. So, people who are intimidated can still feel welcome to do text editing. And I’ve used the WordPress Codex and it goes quite smoothly. And I haven’t done the integration yet, but hear that integration is not difficult.

    c) For awhile I thought MediaWiki is way topheavy for a small website, use it only when needed for a major wiki project… but hey… If the wiki is small, then a big program is less of a problem, ’cause there is little traffic or usage, no? And if the project is big, then you are going to be glad for all the extra features of MediaWiki, and also you are going to justify whatever little cost to increase your website RAM etc., no?

    I.e., for small wiki or big wiki… go with the one that most people on the planet are familiar with… go with the one that you know will be supported and “maybe” even vastly improved someday… go with the one that will have all the features you might need if your wiki gets more popular than you think… go with the one that WordPress.org uses and so you know that the top brass at WordPress must have good reasons… and you know that the integration with WordPress is sure to be supported as well… Go with MediaWiki.

    mwsmedia

    (@mwsmedia)

    12 years, 8 months ago

    Krystofo, how did you WordPress / Mediawiki integration go? I’d love to hear what you did — documentation around the web for single-login integration is around, but nothing seems to address the current versions of either application. Thanks!

    Thread Starter krystofo

    (@krystofo)

    12 years, 6 months ago

    Hi MWSmedia… Yes it’s more difficult than I thought to find documentation… I am now partnering with an experienced person who advises me simply: Make WordPress & Mediawiki “appear” to be integrated, but don’t actually integrate them.

    I am just now frantically trying to set up a multisite WordPress at Planetary Investing.Org. After this is finished, I will get back to Verhampshire.Org VT-NH Information Site. It is Verhampshire that is more in need of the mediawiki.

    Right now, both sites are barely under construction. Also I might not revisit WordPress.org for months at a time. Therefore anyone who is interested how my Mediawiki works out, I suggest you keep an eye on Verhampshire.org.

    (My history for getting projects completed on time is not good, needless to say. But a few weeks ago there was nothing and now there are 2 WordPress installations at least. So things are finally moving along. After Verhampshire is completed, my next project Emocracy.Org is scheduled to combine Buddypress, Mediawiki, Xenforo and perhaps a kitchen sink.)

    P.S. I am late for an appointment so have to go now. But I just found this post at another mediawiki discussion:
    You might try the stuff at this site:
    http://insites.ingenesis.net/2008/08/17/wordpress-bbpress-mediawiki/
    or this one where they took it a step further:
    http://ciarang.com/wiki/page/WPMW

    This was posted by nicollb here:
    http://wordpress.org/support/topic/mediawiki-integration-1?replies=3

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • The topic ‘Best wordpress wiki plugin? MediaWiki, WP-Wiki vs. BP Group Wiki comparisons?’ is closed to new replies.